Yesterday I was feeling down and angry that I had seven MORE weeks to 'recover' meaning resume my normal activities but I probably won't feel like myself again for six months. I was bummed I was unable to put Mike through a DIFFICULT Easter egg hunt. There's always next year, I suppose. I decided to push myself and do stuff I should not be doing like putting stuff in the dishwasher, bending down to get things out of the dryer, and taking a short hike. Reality: Yes I can do those now. But doing those caused so much pain today. I am laying down and resting today. :( I don't like to ask for help because I don't want to be an imposition on anyone. I am way too independent for my own good. I learned my lesson the hard way. This morning, I tried to do something and realized it was too hard for me to do, I asked Mike for help. Poor Mike, I am driving him crazy by being really stubborn. Mike, I'll try to behave better going forward. *grin*
I am sick of watching TV shows and movies on my iPad and reading magazines. I think it'll be good for me to return to my telecommute job on Monday- it will give me something to do. As I found out yesterday, it is exhausting to be on the laptop a while. Let's see how I do on Monday.
I am part of a great support group right now. FINALLY! It's a HysterSisters group for women who had surgery during the week of March 30-April 2. It's being run by a moderator who had hers last year. We share our struggles in our recovery process. I was relieved to learn I was not alone in dealing with frustrations that come with week 1 recovery.: gas pains from being pumped with gas during surgery, trying to POOP, dealing with pain medications, and feeling emotional. We laughed about the fact we were celebrating whenever a sister finally pooped. Who does that? Celebrate about poop! I had my celebration on Monday! It was a celebration for two reasons: first, I finally have a functional plumbing and second, I can eat raw fruits and vegetables again!!!
Week 1 also came with a weird craving for cow's milk. I don't drink that anymore. But I got some. I don't understand but was happy to fulfill my craving. Week 2 comes with a weird craving for chocolate chip cookies. WHY?! I don't know. I'm not really a cookie person. Mike and I went out yesterday afternoon in search of chocolate chip cookies in Annapolis. Went to the place that supposedly had the best ones. Yech. Too much flour. At that point, I was too sugared out from one cookie to keep on looking. Probably better to bake some myself. This recipe looks good: http://hostthetoast.com/best-chewy-cafe-style-chocolate-chip-cookies/. Wait a minute... I can't bake for a while. What will I crave during week 3? I hope it's not something I hate.
Week 2 recovery comes with dealing with pain that comes with peeing. It's a new one. HysterSisters sends a regular email with checkpoints. It came on Monday - one week after my surgery. It spoke of that pain. Hmm. I have to keep drinking water and drink some cranberry juice. The email listed the symptoms I might experience during week 2. It's really nice to have a manual to help me understand my process. My HysterSisters group is now talking about wanting to wean off from pain medication. I started taking mine every four hours then six hours. Now it's seven hours. One woman tried to stop altogether and was in horrible pain for two days before the medication started working. We are also talking about incisions and how they itch. I find that castor oil helps control the itchiness. Dermabond naturally came off one incision. It now looks like a paper cut. The biggest incision that had steristrips came off yesterday.
A list of my milestones:
-can dress myself. Putting on socks and boots are still a struggle.
-starting to be able to hold a cup to my mouth to drink- still using straws
-can comfortably hold a laptop on my lap
-can sit up about an hour long
-can do simple food preparation tasks
-can hold up a magazine for a while- going to try a book soon
-can hold my phone up for a while
-can fold laundry
-can walk around the block
-can wear the abdominal binder for up to 2 hours before getting tired
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